Brussels, 24/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Monday EU ministers of the interior pointed out in Brussels at the Justice and Home Affairs Council that the 25 Member States of the EU had to work collectively to fighting illegal immigration. During a public debate at the Council, the Finnish minister of the interior Kari Rajamäki indicated, “the debate (on immigration) demonstrates that collective responsibility is a commitment at a European level”. The Italian minister of the interior Giuliano Amato told his colleagues that “this is a situation that concerns us all”. He put the number of illegal immigrants arriving in Lampedusa between 1 January and 20 July at 9500. Mr Amato explained that this number had sharply increased compared to 2005, mainly because of 3500 Moroccans who had got around migratory routes that had now closed. The Maltese minister of the interior Tonio Borg indicated that his country was confronting a “catastrophic situation” given the significant number of illegal immigrants coming from Libya. He said that they had to continue the dialogue with this country and estimated that the number of people retained in reception centres this year in Malta stood at 1200, which was the equivalent to 120,000 people in Germany. Mr Borg pointed out that Malta was the “second country in the world receiving more demands for asylum per inhabitant”. He warned that if the EU left countries confronting high levels of immigration to cope alone, “one day the situation would backfire against us and even countries in the north would feel it”. Antonio Camacho Vizcaino Secretary of State for Security in Spain regretted that there was no “European model” in the EU for inspecting sea borders, as opposed to that put in place on land borders. He also said that he was concerned by “illegal immigration from eastern Europe”.
Ministers also held an exchange of views on measures proposed by the Commission for fighting against illegal immigration, including the setting up of coastal patrols in the Mediterranean (EUROPE 9236). In the context of the patrols expected for the coasts off the Canary Islands, Senegal and Mauritania, the director of the Frontext Agency Ilkka Laitienen explained that this operation of the EU (ERA 2) is expected to last seven years, taking into account the budget available. He also announced that on 1st August in Malta a joint team of experts would begin working on a maritime patrol operation (Jason 1) off the Maltese coastlines. Mr Laitinen said that “I hope that these operations could be useful for other countries in the Mediterranean region”. A Portuguese patrol boat will soon be monitoring the Cap Verde coast, revealed the Spanish Secretary of State, José Magalhaes. He explained that this was a “concrete contribution” in the sense of what the Cap Verde authorities had been requesting and that they also wanted the ERA operation to be extended to Cap Verde. The Greek minister for public order Byron Polydoras estimated the number of illegal immigrants arriving every week off the Greek coast at 500 and therefore called for European aid, as well as the two Greek patrol boats patrolling the Aegean Sea, in an attempt to counter this wave of illegal immigration. Franco Frattini was keen to point out that “the extension of patrols in the eastern Mediterranean is one of our aims”. In a response to concerns expressed by Mr Amato about the readmission agreements, the Commissioner made a point of calling on Member States to exert pressure on Morocco to agree to the readmission agreement with the EU, negotiated several months ago with the European Commission.
In connection with the overall approach on immigration, ministers discussed the progress made since the Rabat Conference (EUROPE 9230), which gained consensus during the last “General Affairs and External Relations Council” (EUROPE 9237) and on the importance of preparing the Dialogue on immigration and development at the UN in September this coming September. The French Delegate Minister for Regional Development, Christian Estrosy, described Rabat as a “success” given that as well as development projects, participants had looked at the “concept of selected immigration and not just that of being subject to immigration”. He highlighted the fact that the EU was not El Dorado and that in order to fight against illegal immigration, it was not enough to focus on maritime borders but also the interior and those who had legally entered the EU but who then remain illegally, which he believed meant making the Schengen Visa system more secure by introducing biometric data. On a more general point, the Swedish minister for migration and asylum policy, Barbro Holmberg said that the Rabat Conference had launched the “premise of international dialogue at a higher level” and had announced the idea of holding a “world forum structured” on this issue in which the EU should be a major player. Cypriot Sofoklis Sofokleous said that he was in favour of “Rabat action being extended to countries of the Middle East”. Ministers said that they supported the announcement by Libya to organise a meeting between the EU and the African regime in Tripoli soon, on immigration. Mr Borg, however, said that they still had to set a date for the conference.